UNTOLD ARSENAL: The most read Arsenal blog in the world » 2008 » May » 31

31/05/2008 by Tony Attwood.

There’s an Arsenal web site that is currently running a yes/no question along the lines – should Arsenal sign another striker?

The majority have said yes.

Which is fine – except we are getting a bit overloaded.   We have

Adebayor – scored the same number of goals in Season 3 as Theirry Henry, which is not bad.

Van Persie – two bad seasons with injuries and surely he is due an injury free time soon.

Carlos Vela – two seasons in Spain and he is scoring – “just like Eduardo” said Wenger, and that is good enough for me.

Nicklas Bendtner – not expected to achieve anything last season but he came through and scored some vital goals for us.  Never forget Tottenham.

Eduardo – due back in August according to reports – but even if not that early he should be ready to play by September or October.  Before being attacked he was brilliant.  Remember the goal at Everton?

Theo Walcott – I counted him as the half.  He will become a brilliant striker for us, but I think this coming season he would be best on the wing doing a Pires to Ade’s Henry.

So – if we buy someone else, then what.  OK, let’s assume we get injuries like we have suffered for the past two years – even so, that would only take two of the players out.   Worst scenario – Van Persie is done again playing for Holland, and Eduardo doesn’t get match fit until October.   We have Ade playing up front with Nicklas Bendtner and Theo on the wing drifting in ready to pounce.   On the bench, Vela.

Ade gets injured, but then Eduardo comes back and Theo is still an option for moving inside.  Carlos Vela starts getting games.

The point is of course that we might not get these injuries – so just how are we going to keep all these players happy.   Yes, Wenger can do it because of the Cup games, the extra Euro games for qualifying, and the fact that Eduardo will be reintroduced very slowly indeed, and Vela won’t expect to get too much.

But remember, Vela was playing every game for his side in Spain this last year, and with the Mexico squad this summer.   He won’t wait forever.

So for me, another striker, no – because to do that we would have to sell someone, and there is no one I want to sell.

Tell you what though, I really want to be there when Eduardo comes onto the pitch for the first time.

31/05/2008 by Tony Attwood.

Uefa has produced its alternative to the wild scheme of FIFA – which goes completely against EU law.

The UEFA proposal, which the EU has indicated it could well accept avoids the issue of the nationality of players and instead requires that clubs playing in the European competitions should include in the 25 man squad eight “home produced” players.

There are two vital points here.  The first is the definition of “home produced.”    This has nothing to do with accident of birth, or the birth of the parents or grandparents, but rather looks at where the players were trained between 15 and 21.

To qualify for a club playing in England the players would have to have spent 3 years in England during that period, which makes players such as Denilson, van Persie, Fabregas, Clichy and the like, all “English”.   Indeed these players would continue to be English if they chose to move from Arsenal to another club.

Secondly, it must be noted that this has nothing at all to do with the EPL, and clubs would remain free to play anyone that they could get a registration for.   EU citizens would have an open door as now, and those from outside the EU would have the chance of going to Spain or Belgium to get their registration within two years.

This is great news for Arsenal because it vindicates the Wenger model of world-wide scouting, bringing in younger players – as opposed to the Chelsea model of bringing in the “finished” article at the age of 25 or more.

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